It had been about five years since we'd last had the chance to visit the Mayan ruins of Palenque, and this time our schedule in Tapachula was open enough that we were able to include visits to the nearby highly-regarded sites of Yaxchilan and Bonampak in our travel plans.
We took one of Mexico's fancy interstate buses to San Cristobal de las Casas and Palenque. Protip: it is a very long bus trip from Tapachula to Palenque, about 15 hours one way, but at least someone else is doing the driving. The road winds up and down and around the mountain ranges of Chiapas through several picturesque Mayan towns, which is very lucky for any would-be photographer. Each of these towns has so many topes (gnarly speed bumps) that buses have to almost come to a stop to climb over them, giving a passenger plenty of time to photograph the street scenes. The downside is that the bus encounters literally one tope every 60 to 90 seconds. For 15 hours. I am not exaggerating when I tell you I got seasick from all the up-and-down. But I got some fun photos anyway. Like, 
a view of Ocosingo's Saturday market, that takes up a few city blocks. Or the shot I got of how rural folk in Chiapas spread out tamarind pods and coffee beans to dry in their front yards, long before their products arrive in your supermarket of choice. Also: fresh grilled chicken for sale!
The women in each town the bus drove through wore distinctive traditional clothing that somehow remained spotless, regardless of the work they were doing. Notice in the pic over here on the top left the wide woven belts and black woolen skirts with embroidered bands, worn by women in a town near San Cristobal de las Casas (they're hauling firewood with headstrap packs, btw; no other draft animals in these parts). Compare their outfits to the two pics below, of the clothing traditional women wear several kilometers down the road in the area of Ocosingo. I am unclear whether the distinctions are geographic or familial, but if you're hip to the styles you can certainly tell which town a woman is from just by looking at what she's wearing. Handy.
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